Clamp for boots and shoes



(No Model.)

B. S. PRATT.

CLAMP FOR BOOTS AND SHOES. No. 249,795. Patented Nov. 22,1881.

Wnesses: [72 verzzon' NIIE STATES PATENT Trice.

ELBBIDGE S. PRATT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CLAMP FOR BOOTS AND SHOES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No: 249,795, dated November 22, 1881.

Application filed April 29, 1881.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ELBRIDGE S. PRATT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Clamp for Boots and Shoes, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in clamps for holding the upper of a boot or shoe in its proper position upon the last while the said upper is being sewed to the sole of the boot or shoe, by means of a toggle-joint and thumb-screw, this invention being an improvement upon a former patent of mine obtained April 6, 1880.

The object of my present invention is to make a lighter and less complicated construction than that shown in said patent, and which admits of easier and more rapid adjustment, and also of more convenient handling while the boot or shoe is being sewed. I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my invention applied to a shoe previous to the sewing ot' the upper leather and sole. Fig. 2 is a central transverse section through the togglejoint and fulcrumplate of the clamp after it has been removed from a boot or shoe, the clamp levers and jaws, and also the thumbscrew, being shown in elevation. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings, A indicates a shoe; B, clamp-levers; C, a toggle-joint.

The clamp -levers B B are provided with flaring clamp-jaws I), made to fit the curve of the last where the upper leather and the sole of the shoe or boot are to be united, and they straddle the instep in such manner that the upper is tightly drawn over the last and held so during the use of the clamp to facilitate the sewing of the boot or shoe. Nearly midway of their length the clamp-levers are provided with short bends b b, which fit loosely in the eyes d d of a transverse fulcrum-plate, D, thereby forming a loosely-articulatin g joint, as shown 5 and above this fulcrum-plate the clamplevers are curved outwardly, as at b b and at their upper ends are provided with heads (No model.)

11 5 These heads b b are pivoted at e e to links E E of the toggle-joint, and said links are pivoted at e c to the cross-head F of the togglejoint, as represented. Through the cross-head F a screw, G, having a thumb-head, as at g, is screwed. The screw Gextends down to the center of the fulcrum-plate D, and is there provided with a shoulder, as at g, a step, 9 of reduced diameter, passing through the fulcrum-plate D, and an end shoulder formed by a washer, g properly fastened to the step 9 below thefulcrum-plate D, as shown. 1 have formed the middle part of the fulcrumplate elevated above the eyes d d and with the washer g sunk into the metal of the fulcrum-plate D, whereby I avoid the chafing of these parts against-the instep of the shoe while the clamp is being adjusted and the screw Gr manipulated during the use of the clamp.

In order to prevent the fulcrum plate D from slipping down on the clamp-levers B B while said levers are being adjusted on a boot or shoe, I provide each clamp-lever with atransverse pin, 1), as shown.

When the clamp is to he used its jaws b I) are moved apart by screwing the cross-head F up, as represented in Fig. 2. The lower portion of the clamp is then passed over the boot or shoe, and when properly adjusted the cross-head F is then screwed down until the jaws b b firmly clamp the upper-leather to the last, as is illustrated in Fig. 1, whereupon the boot or shoe is ready to be sewed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim,au d desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. A boot or shoe clamp consistingof a toggle-joint, C, fulcrum-plate D, and clamp-levers B B, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In a toggle-joint boot or shoe clamp, the combination of the clamp-levers B, having bends I), and the fulcrum-plate D, having fulcrum-eyes d, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

Signed in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ELBRIDGE S. PRATT.

Vitnesses:

ALEXANDER PORTER, HENRY E. UNDERWOOD. 

